An Ottoman Cosmopolitan in the Turkish Republic of Letters: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpnar
Nagihan Halilo\u011flu posits Ahmet Hamdi Tanp\u0131nar as a pioneer of literary cosmopolitanism in Turkey, considering his lectures on literature, given in 1950\u2019s at the Turkish Literature department, Istanbul University. This paper aims to posit Ahmet Hamdi Tanp\u0131nar as a pioneer of literary cosmopolitanism in Turkey, considering his Lectures on Literature, collection of lectures given in 1950\u2019s at the Turkish Literature department, Istanbul University. The lectures reveal a literary cosmopolitanism that combines an understanding of literary, architectural and musical patterns that travel across borders. As such, Tanp\u0131nar\u2019s lectures can be seen a vademecum for the comparative literature student interested in considering European and Turkish literatures together. Tanp\u0131nar\u2019s work and enduring influence on Turkish writers such as Orhan Pamuk is further proof that only through a good knowledge of local tradition are literary cosmopolitanism and comparative literary studies possible.